Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem

 Something new has been moving into our neighborhoods and we as pet owners have not been paying attention... This is a plea to not overact and panic. But this is another real danger to our pets and even young children. This is a warning and a plea to be aware. This is about  "wild dogs". This is the Coyote.  First we must realize Coyotes are not domesticated dogs this is a wild animal. It follows the wild pack rules of survival. Something our domesticated pets remember but do not normally have to deal with... The survival of the fittest... The wild dogs are lean, mean, very smart, and generally very strong. Not like our overfed, cute, loveable, plump, weak Pets.  They have not been de-wormed, or neutered. Coyotes are covered with ticks, fleas, mites, carry all the viruses, and have all the ills that a truly wild life without a good health care brings...  However they are still god's wild creatures and must be dealt with humanely.  

Okay now just why is a wild Coyote a threat? I live in a fenced neighborhood in the middle of a large suburban area?  or My fence is 6 ft tall nothing can get over it... or my dog only goes outside when I am there, We have a doggie door and a 6 ' fence.... etc etc...  The Coyote doesn't care about your efforts.... The Coyote is trying to survive, feed its young and protect its territory.  The Coyote sees your pets as food. The Coyote was not called wily for nothing was he? 

Coyote basic facts: Why you should be concerned.

You have had skunks, rats, mice, deer, opossum, racoons and squirrels, snakes, chipmunks and recently the armadillo etc., in your yard right? Did they look at your neighborhood with its nicely mowed yards and trimmed bushes and say "Oh that belongs to humans. I won't go there"? Did these critters climb over, dig under, or just walk through a open gate?   How many reports have you heard of critters getting into houses with doggie doors?  Well neither does the Coyote stop and turn away. In fact there are daily reports of Coyotes in large cities  Why?  FOOD, garbage bins, trash wrappers with food, and Coyotes prey on other animals. So they will go where the food is and that food just might be your pet.

The following is excerpts from reports by some experts on Coyotes in California, Kentucky, Georgia

"Attack incidents are typically preceded by a sequence of increasingly bold coyote behaviors, including: nighttime Coyote attacks on pets; sightings of Coyotes in neighborhoods at night; sightings of Coyotes in morning and evening; attacks on pets during daylight hours; attacks on pets on leashes and chasing of joggers and bicyclists; and finally, mid-day sightings of Coyotes in and around children’s play areas. In suburban areas, Coyotes can lose their fear of humans as a result of coming to rely on ample food resources including increased numbers of rabbits and rodents, household refuse, pet food, available water from ponds and landscape".¹ 

In North Alabama we have had both dogs and cats pulled through fences. Sightings of Coyotes in backyards with fences over  6'.  Yes they can jump and crawl and climb. Last year there were reports of pets grabbed out of backyards with owners not 6 or 8 ft away...

Contrary to popular belief, these animals do not hunt in packs but rather are primarily solitary hunters. Small house pets (especially cats), young or small livestock and poultry are vulnerable and susceptible to predation by a coyote.⁴

Have you seen this photo from Manhattan?

 

 This was a neighborhood cat... unknown place

 Another problem, intentional feeding of Coyotes by residents. The safe environment provided by general public, is also thought to be a major contributing factor. To contribute to Coyotes’ loss of fear of humans and to a dependency on resources in the suburban environment.

Corrective action can be effective if implemented, before Coyote attacks on pets and children become more common. However, if environmental modification and changes in human behavior toward Coyotes are delayed, then removal of offending predators by traps or shooting is required. We note the failure of various non-lethal harassment techniques to correct the problem in situations where Coyotes have become habituated to human-provided food resources. Coyote attacks on humans in suburbia are preventable, but the long-term solution of this conflict requires public education, changes in residents’ behavior, and in some situations, the means to effectively remove individual offending animals.

“Coyotes are very adaptable. They are now found in all 120 Kentucky counties,” said Laura Patton, Furbearer Biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “I suspect there are higher concentrations in agricultural areas.”  Coyotes are wary and often difficult to hunt because of their keen sense of sight, smell and hearing. While they don’t hunt in packs like wolves, it is not uncommon to see family groups of Coyotes together, especially in the late summer or early fall.²
 "Coyotes can lose their fear of people and come to associate humans with this safe, resource-rich environment. This problem is exacerbated by people who intentionally feed Coyotes. In such situations, some Coyotes have begun to act aggressively toward humans, chasing joggers and bicyclists, confronting people walking their dogs, and stalking small children.
While rodents and rabbits are typically main components of a Coyote’s diet, local food habits often reflect the composition of the local prey base. Analyses of Coyote scats(poop) collected near Claremont, California revealed that Coyotes relied heavily on “pets”  and rabbits in winter and spring (Wirtz et al. 1982);²

Based on an analysis of Coyote attacks previously described, there is a predictable sequence of observed changes in Coyote behavior that indicates an increasing risk to human safety (Baker and Timm 1998). We now define these changes, in order of their usual pattern of occurrence, as follows:
1) An increase in observing Coyotes on streets and in yards at night.
2) An increase in Coyotes approaching adults and/or taking pets at night
3) Early morning and late afternoon daylight observance of Coyotes on streets and in parks and yards.
4)Daylight observance of Coyotes chasing or taking pets.
5)Coyotes attacking and taking pets on leash or in close proximity to their owners i.e. back yard with owners watching in horror; Coyotes chasing joggers, bicyclists, and other adults.
6)Coyotes seen in and around children’s play areas, school grounds, and parks in mid-day.
7) Coyotes acting aggressively toward adults during mid-day.²

In addition to the human safety issue, Coyotes’ presence in close association with humans can represent a potential health risk to people and their pets. Rabies, if it were to become established in suburban Coyote populations, could easily put humans and domestic animals at risk.

Food sources for Coyotes
Neighborhood residents need to understand that Coyotes will use pet food, improperly stored household refuse, various fruits and seeds accessible from gardens and fallen from backyard trees, and compost piles as food sources. Backyard bird feeders may attract rodents and rabbits, as will certain kinds of lush landscaping, which in turn attract coyotes. Tall or thick vegetation needs to be cleared, wherever possible, to prevent Coyotes from using it for cover near residences. Small pets need to be kept indoors, or in well-fenced kennels when they are outdoors.

People should be informed that feeding also puts neighborhood children and pets at risk of serious injury or death, as well as increasing risks to humans and pets from Coyote vectored diseases (disease carried and spread).

In recent years, Coyotes have made suburban areas their home, and are often observed in back yards, or prowling neighborhood streets during the night. To discourage Coyotes from hanging around, keep pets and pet food inside during the night, and put trash secured in garbage cans.

Residents can reduce their vulnerability to Coyote attack by carrying a walking stick and vary daily routines and walking route. Coyotes will learn and take advantage of people’s routines. Exercising pets in mid-day may be safer than in early morning or late evening when Coyotes are sometimes most active.
Georgia: In 1969, Coyote populations were confirmed by hunters, trappers or road-kills in only about 23 counties. Today, Coyotes call all 159 counties home. The main trait that has made Coyotes so successful is that they are extremely adaptable. A biologist would say that Coyotes have non-specific needs for habitat and food, which means they can live nearly anywhere and survive by eating nearly anything available. They are not finicky eaters, nearly everything is on the menu. Coyotes will eat whatever they can catch, including, but not limited to: rabbits, mice and other rodents, grasshoppers, watermelon, persimmons, deer (mostly fawns), dog food off your back porch, house cats, small dogs, squirrels, opossums, corn, chickens, raccoons, snakes, berries and birds — and they aren’t above feasting on roadkill or scavenging through household garbage.  The males range in size from 25 to 40 pounds. Females range from 22 to 35 pounds.  Coyotes mate in February and have from five to seven pups in April in a den in a hollow tree or burrow. The number of pups and the number of breeding females varies according to the prey base. When prey is abundant, litter size increases and more females breed. The pups are weaned at about six weeks but usually stay with the adults until they disperse in the fall. ³

Founder and director of the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort Wildlife Center in Lithonia GA, who has more than two decades of Coyote-trapping experience knows.  “They’ll eat anything,” said Elliott, who operates Atlanta Wildlife Relocators. “They’re like possums — except they eat possums, too."

Today, they live in every state in the continental United States, plus Alaska. Coyotes arrived in Georgia in the 1970s, and have taken root like kudzu. (If you live in the south YOU know what Kudzu is).

¹Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem Wednesday,

January 02, 2013 USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, Sacramento, California

² fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Coyotes.aspx

³ Georgia Outdoor News  gon.com/article.php?id=677

^₄ Georgia Wildlife Resources Division